Juniper Networks, Inc. unveiled its latest move to provide additional customer choice, prevent notions of vendor lock-in and take a revolutionary approach to the evolution of networking.

In an environment of “coopetition” with vertical and horizontal integration and innovation occurring, Juniper Networks appears ready to lead the networking conversation and take the “bleeding edge technology being developed” and bring those innovations “down the line” for enterprise businesses of all sizes, according to Jennifer Blatnik, VP of portfolio marketing, cloud and enterprise at Juniper Networks.

Blatnik spoke with John Furrier and Stu Miniman, cohosts of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team, during Juniper Networks NXTWORK 2015 and revealed some of what’s driving the “disaggregation of software,” the move toward an open ecosystem and how Juniper best positions businesses for today and tomorrow’s networking challenges.

Daunting tasks

The move toward open source is hard to ignore, and Furrier was quick to mention the pressure of open on the technology industry, noting that Juniper’s Junos OS offering reflects the influence of that movement. Blatnik explained that open was a key driver along with “customer choice” in allowing third-party support on both its hardware and software fronts. This “software unleashed” approach, in essence an “open ecosystem,” provides security and networking capability and fights the increasingly unpopular idea of being vendor-locked. This “disaggregation of software” from hardware provides both solutions with the ultimate in customer flexibility.

However, for enterprise companies of any size, it’s a “daunting task” to migrate hardware, software or both. Blatnik explained that the traditional customers, “service providers and carriers” helped develop the technologies on the “bleeding edge” of hyperscale environments, allowing Junkper to take those developments and bring them to enterprise customers. Each of these unique clients “have their own problems” and have the same shared goal of being able to “operate systems with a handful of personnel,” an issue that faces enterprise consumers regularly.

Going forward

So what is the future of Juniper? “Automation,” replied Blatnik. That’s what the company is focused on providing going forward. The conversations surrounding a migration often times surround security, and Juniper is working to address each “point of threat or point of enforcement” in a new software-defined view of security and look to provide a universal business translatable security policy.

Blatnik explained that the “mundane cut-and-paste” tasks of the past need to be automated out so that networking solutions were simple, and Juniper intends on providing the solution to that very problem. Both Furrier and Blatnik agreed that founder-led organizations tend to hold the “revolutionary” banner going forward in their industries, noting Juniper as an example.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of Juniper Networks NXTWORK 2015. And join in on the conversation by CrowdChatting with theCUBE hosts.

Photo by SiliconANGLE